Anticreeping device for railroad-rails



R. E. KEOU'GH ANTICREEPING DEVICE FOR RAILROAD RAILS. APPLICATION FILED S'EPT. I3. 1919.

Patented Ma r. 29, 1921.

b e k E c In a [IVA "I'd.

c Robe/7 E. keougb- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT E. KEOUGH, or MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

ANTICREEPING DEVICE FOR RAILROAD-RAILS.

I Application filed September 13, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that I, ROBERT EMMnr'r linens-Ii, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, and a resident of the city of Mentreal, in the Province of Quebec, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Anticreeping Devices for Railroaddtails; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates particularly to anti.- ci'eeping devices for railroad rails of the type involving the spiking of the rail without welding, bracing or other method of forming an integral joint between the spike and raii flange; and the invention has for its object to provide an effective anti-creeping device which, while being capable of rigid connection to the tie, may be unspiked and displaced at will, and may, if desired, provide-for each reverse movement of the rail as is necessary to accommodate expansion and contraction of the rail.

The invention may be said broadly to consist of the combination with a rail provided with integralmeans to engage a spike or similar device to prevent creeping, of means other than the tie or sleeper to hold the spike or other attaching device in engagement with the rail.

A further object is to provide such a structure which will permit of a limited amount of longitudinal movement of the rail to compensate for expansion and contraction which occur under changes of temperatnre.

Preferably my invention consists in, so designing and assembling a rail, tie plate, and the attaching spikes, that the'rail will be effectively held against creeping by the manner in which the spikes for securing the tie plate and rail engage the rail and the tie plate, thereby avoiding any extra eX- pense to prevent rail creeping, and preferably to do this in such a manner as to permit a limited longitudinal movement of the rail so as to avoid any considerable working of the spikes back and forth in the tie, whereby the spikes become loosened and in the case of creosoted ties, Water is admitted past the creosoted surface.

For full comprehension of my invention Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 29, 1921.

Serial No. 323,672.

reference must be had to the accompanying drawlngs forming part of this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the top of a rail section and a tie plate made according to my invention and held in place with the fastening devices in horizontal section for purpose of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a similar view to Fig. 1 illustrating a different arrangement of the fastening devices with relation to the raillugs;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 33 Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a railcontaining my invention; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective viewof the tie plate.

The rail base according to my invention has its edges formed with recesses b between extensions or flat lugs a, while the tie plate indicated at (Z has preferably four spike holes 0 of a length, in the direction of the rail, somewhat greater than the width of the spike, the holes being arranged in pairs and the pairs being positioned on opposite sides of the rail when the tie plate is in place. The idea is to have the holes in the tie plate of a length and so spaced that the divisions will be aliquant parts of the recesses of the rail flange for the purpose of obtaining the greatest range for spiking. In the preferred embodiment of my invention the spike holes are substantially equal in length to the recess of the said flange. The rail-sustaining or abutting shoulder Z: is formed integrally with the plate and for the purpose of my invention the spike holes at one side of the plate are suflicient in width, transversely to the rail to accommodate each spike in position bearing between the lateral outermost side of the hole and the edge of the rail flange with the spike. abutting against one of the lugs. It is important that the spike hear between the outermost side of the spike hole and the edges of the rail in order to insure engagement of the spikes with the lugs c and consequently if there is faulty construction I prefer to have the inner side of the spike hole extend slightly within the line of the recess edge of the rail. The same relative arrangements and dimensions of spike holes and rail recesses are obtained at the opposite edge of the rail.

In spiking a rail according to my invention the plate is placed with the shoulder outwardly relatively to the track. It is then put into position beneath the rail, and shifted to bring the pairs ofholes on opposite sides of the rail and with one transverse edge of one hole of each pair spaced a distance from one of the lugs equal to the width of a spike so that when the spike is driven into the tie it will on one side bear against-say the right side of the lug as indicated. in Fig. l and on the opposite side against the tie plate.

The spike which is driven throughthe other hole :of each pair is positioned to abut against the left side of the next adjacent lug, the right side of the hole inthe tie plate being in alinement with this side of the lug. This arrangement prevents creeping in opposite directions, the tie plate in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 assisting the spikes in resisting a creepmg movement to the right into uxtaposition with recesses in the edge of the rail flange. @wing to the aliquant spacing of the recesses and spike holes the adjustment necessary is very slight.

The outer edges of the holes which extend parallel to the rail flange are adapted to clamp the spikes tightly against the same so that the spikes can never work or be spread laterally out of engagement with the integral shoulders on the rail, except by entirely withdrawing them from the sleeper and tieplate;

f desired my invention may be applied when double shoulder plates are used.

If desired, the spikes can be alternately arranged so that certain spikes will engage the integral shoulders or lugs, so as to prevent creeping in one direction, and other spikes to engage other lugs, so as to prevent creeping in the other direction; or the recesses. between thelugs may be made just wide enough to permit of the admission of the spikes (not shown), in either of which cases the'rail will be held firmly against creeping or longitudinal movement in either direction longitudinally of the rail.

l/Vhile this construction may be practical under certain conditions of rail structure.

and where certain devices (which may be bolts as well as spikes) are used to fasten the rail to the sleeper which may be a metal or concrete sleeper well as a wooden tie, nevertheless, under many conditions of service there is an unavoidable slight longitudinal movement of the rail from time to time due to expansion and contraction of the rail under varying temperature conditions. Ordinarily in track laying, this is provided for by some form of expansion joint between the rail ends, whereby the rail may expand longitudinally within certain limits without buckling of the rail.

Where this is the case, and particularly on double track roads where the trallic is mostly in one direction, which is the condition where the creeping of rails causes most trouble, it is desirable that the space between the integral lugs.shall be longer than the width of the spike; that is to say, the excess in the length of this space over the width oi the spike should be approximately at least equal to the necessary space provided between rail ends to allow for such expansion. ll ith such construction as shown in Fig. 2 one spike oi each iair engages in this instance the left ride of one of the lugs thereby preventing cre ping ol' the rail in the direction which it has the paratest tendency to creep, namely to the left. The other spike of each pair is not in engagement with any of the lugs but is positioned within one of the recesses a suilicicut distance from the lug on its lel t to permit of expansion ot the rail to the right, whereupon, in ease of expansion oi the rzul, the rail may slide bodily in the direction of its length opposite to the direction in which there is the greatest tendency to creep. This obtains the same action and elleet as with any of the well known types of floating anti-creepers or rail anchors, which are clamped to the rail has. and engage, but are not attached to the tie, so that the rail is free to move or expand in a. direction to move the anti-creeper away from the tie. With such devices, however, there is this danger; that when the tie abutting part of the anti-creeper becomes embedded in the road ballast, especially when the ballast is frozen as in winter, the anti-creeper is not free to be moved backwardly, as such backward movement opposed by the body or frozen ballast, which objection does not exist with my device.

ll hat I claim is as follows:

1. The rombinatimi with a rail having a. base flange thereof provided with integral lugs, of a tie plate provided with spike. holes, and means for securing the rail and tie plate to a sleeper, the spike holes in the plate beingso proportioned as to hold said securing means in such en ement with the base lugs, of a tie plate provided with spike holes.

and means for securing the rail and tie plate to a sleeper, the spike holes in the plate being so proportioned as to hold said securing means in such engagement with the base flange of the rail as to prevent creeping and llll said integral lugs being so spaced apart with relation to the Width of the securing holes as to permit of a longitudinal movement of the rail in one direction While preventing the creeping of the rail in the opposite direc tion.

3. The combination With a tie plate having spike holes therein, a rail and means for extending through the plates to fasten a rail to a tie, of means including an integral part of the rail for absorbing creeping tendency and transmitting it to the rail fastening means, such absorbing means compiising extensions or lugs upon the edges of the rail flange, the recesses between the lugs registering with the spike holes, the length of the recesses and the spaces between them being aliquant parts of the spike holes and their spaces.

4. The combination with a tie plate having spike holes, therein, a rail and means for extending through the plate to fasten a rail to a tie, of means including an integral part of the rail for absorbing creeping tendency and transmitting it to the rail fastening means; such means consisting of extensions or lugs upon the edges of the rail flange, the recesses between the lugs registering with the spike holes, the length of each recess being an aliquant part of: the space between the spike holes, and the spike holes being substantially equal in length to the recesses.

The combination With a tie plate having spike holes therein, and having a rail sustaining shoulder intersecting the spike holes at one edge of the plate, a rail and means for extending through the plate to fasten a rail to a tie, of means, including an integral part of the rail for absorbing creeping tendency and transmitting it to the spike, such means comprising extensions or lugs upon the edges of the rail flamgc, the recesses between the lugs registering with the spike holes, the length of each recess being an aliquant part of the space between the spike holes, and the spike holes being substantially equal in length to the recesses.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT E. KEOUGH.

Witnesses GORDON G. Cooke, WILLIAM J. C. HEwE'rsoN. 

